Alphabet posted its second-quarter earnings after Wednesday's closing bell, beating on the headline numbers and giving a higher forecast for this year's capital expenditures. But some analysts say the debate over the future of Google's search empire is still unsettled.

Wall Street inched to more records on Thursday as gains for Alphabet and artificial-intelligence stocks helped make up for Tesla ’s steep tumble. The S&P 500 added 0.1% to its all-time high set the day before.